Safe deposit boxes are often used to store any tangible product from personal documents to collectibles and family heirlooms. The objects that can be stored in a safe deposit box are limitless, subject to any restrictions of the financial institution where the safe deposit box is stored.
However, accessing a safe deposit box is currently a complicated and antiquated process. First, a bank employee must check the identification of a safe deposit box renter. Second, the authorized renter must sign a signature card. Third, the authorized renter must provide a key to the safe deposit box, which, when used in conjunction with the bank's key, allows for access to the renter's safe deposit box. This three step control system is used to ensure only authorized persons have access to the safe deposit box. The bank records the signature of any individual allowed to enter the box.
However, often times where a hold exists on a safe deposit box, the bank employee authorizing access to the safe deposit box is unaware of the hold at the time of requested access. Therefore, a renter who should not have access to his/her safe deposit box, for any reason, is still impermissibly able to access his/her safe deposit box. A financial institution may discover the hold after the safe deposit box has already been accessed because the current access steps do not include a query of the user's associated financial account or holds. On the other hand, where a bank employee is required to determine whether a hold exists, he/she may have to call a team or manually query a database for any holds.
Additionally, where multiple renters are authorized to access the same safe deposit box, it is impossible for each of those authorized to know when the safe deposit box was accessed unless the multiple renters accessed the box together, or a renter reviews the signature card upon his/her next attempt at accessing his/her safe deposit box.
Other problems and drawbacks also exist.